Supporting positive community relations and development activities, to improve the socioeconomic standing of rural communities.

The 38-hectare Sama Jaya Nature Reserve in Kuching is the first multipurpose urban forest park in Sarawak. It consists mostly of karangas forest, providing a valuable green lung for the city, education and recreation facilities for the people, and an important refuge for urban wildlife.

Meanwhile, the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) is embarking on a new programme known as ‘Planting With DBKU’, which aims to get city folk involved in greening efforts — from planting trees to composting — in their respective areas.

Basically a tie-up with South Korea would definitely strengthen all the State’s efforts to ensure we play an active role in addressing global climate change.

Assistant Minister of Environment Datu Len Talif Salleh pointed out that South Korea could be a valuable guide for the State as the country has very advanced forest services, while Sarawak could provide a platform for carbon trading, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), as well as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

He added that South Korea has already embarked on a carbon trading project in Indonesia, and the country has expressed interest in providing forest services in Sarawak due to the State’s target of having one million hectares of planted forests.

That’s international recognition for the State’s sustainable forest management policies and efforts to rehabilitate forests for the future. All this is only possible through a clear vision for real transformation for the future and not just passing change.

A report from The Borneo Post:

S’wak, South Korea tie-up to help address global climate change

By Philip Kiew

SEOUL: Sarawak is likely to collaborate with Korea Forest Services in the area of green business services and agro-forest carbon trading in order to play a bigger role in addressing global climate change.

Assistant Minister of Environment Datu Len Latif Salleh said Korea Forest Services was very advanced in forest services, in tandem with its nation’s development which had undergone a major transformation over the past 20 years.

“We, on the other hand, can provide the platform for carbon trading, RADD, CDM and others,” he said at the end of the ‘Sarawak Timber Selling and Investment Mission to South Korea’, which stretched from Jan 9 to 15.

Among others, Len, who is also Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister Department (Promotion of Technical Education), had led a group to visit Young Lim Co. Ltd’s timber mill in Incheon on Jan 12 and the Borneo International Furniture (BIF) factory and showroom on Jan 12-13.

“This is a good time to shift, and not just keeping natural forest. We aim for efficient forest plantation and land use, while upholding forest stewardship and integrity as repairing any damage is always more costly.

“We look forward to incorporating projects into Sarawak as Korea is advanced in the forest service industry. They have already embarked on carbon trading project in Indonesia, and they have expressed interest in providing forest services in Sarawak.”

Korea Forest Services has a long history of replanting forests as the forests in South Korea were virtually pulverized during the Korean War.

“Our target of having one million hectares of forest plantation seems to have attracted the attention of the Koreans.”

The investment mission was led by Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan.

The aims of the mission were to gather information about the Korean timber market and economy, promote sale and increasing market share of timber species and products, including plywood, MDF and sawn timber, and explore other investment and trade opportunities.

It was also meant to strengthen the long bilateral ties and rapport with existing and potential buyers and end-users in Korea.